1 Killing site(s)
Zofia P., born in 1936: "I lived next door to two Jewish families in our village: the Cung family and the Boruch family. The Cungs owned a store that we often visited. One day, the Germans came and surrounded the village. They went to the Cung family’s house and forced the family members out one by one. The Jews were executed with single shots next to a pit that had been dug on their property. The daughter of the family, Rywka, tried to escape but was caught, shot, and buried alongside the others. The pit was later filled in by local villagers. I witnessed it all while standing outside my house.” [Testimony N°YIU1520P, interviewed in Wożuczyn, on November 8, 2023]
Wożuczyn is a village in the district of Rachanie, within Tomaszów Lubelski County in eastern Poland. It is situated approximately 4 km (2 mi) north of Rachanie, 17 km (11 mi) northeast of Tomaszów Lubelski, and 103 km (64 mi) southeast of the regional capital, Lublin.
The village was first mentioned in 1409, though the exact date when Jews first settled there remains uncertain. By the late 19th century, Wożuczyn had 81 houses and a population of 570, including 18 Jewish residents. Since neither Wożuczyn nor the Rachanie district had a synagogue, local Jews traveled to pray in synagogues located in Komarów, Łaszczów, or Tyszowce.
According to the 1921 census, 11 Jews lived in Wożuczyn, comprising 1.6% of the total population of 699. Local witnesses interviewed by Yahad - In Unum recalled two Jewish families living in Wożuczyn before the war: the Cung family, who owned a shop in the village, and the Boruch family.
Wożuczyn was occupied by German troops in mid-September 1939. After a brief period of Soviet control, the village was returned to German authority at the end of September 1939. According to a witness interviewed by Yahad - In Unum, German gendarmes were stationed at the Wożuczyn manor house upon the arrival of the German occupiers. Additionally, a gendarmerie post and a Schutzpolizei unit were established in the nearby town of Rachanie.
Little is known about the lives of Wożuczyn’s Jewish inhabitants during the occupation. However, local witnesses confirmed that two Jewish families continued to live in their homes until an Aktionwas carried out, likely in the autumn of 1942. During this operation, a dozen gendarmes surrounded the village and, with the assistance of Polish collaborators, identified the houses of the two Jewish families. Members of the Cung family were shot and buried near their house. The Boruch family’s house was set on fire, and its members likely attempted to escape. Two sons hid in the surrounding fields but were denounced and killed. The location of their burial remains unknown.
According to Polish archives, another Aktion occurred in November 1942 at the "Cukrownia Wożuczyn" sugar factory in the nearby village of Michalów. During this massacre, the Germans killed 70 Jews, including those working in the factory and others captured from surrounding villages.
For more details about the killings in Michalów, please refer to the corresponding profile.
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